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SLHA Awards 2025
A website, a book and a heritage trail are winners

Dave Start, former Chief Executive of the Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire, has won the Flora Murray Award for 2024 for his website Medieval Standing Crosses of Lincolnshire (www.lincscrosses.org.uk).

A presentation was made at the SLHA Sunday Special meeting in Nettleham on 19 January when Pearl Wheatley received the award on Dave's behalf and spoke about the website and its significance.

The website presents an illustrated gazetteer of all known surviving examples in the county and aims to increase knowledge of the function of crosses along with the reasons for their destruction.

Data for the projected was first collected by the late Hilary Healey, then by Hilary and Dave Start together and finally completed by Dave who developed a website rather than the original idea of print publishing the information. The judging panel was highly impressed by the high standard of the website and the amount of information contained. In Dave’s absence the award was accepted by Pearl Wheatley who paid tribute to both Hilary and Dave.

An SLHA Award for Excellence was given to the Lincoln Visitor Information Centre for their printed Lincoln Heritage Trail which aims to provide visitors with self-guided trail routes within Lincoln. It offers practical information and suggested links to further online information.

Louth Museum also received an Award for Excellence for the book ‘Louth Then and Now’. Interesting images were selected from the museum’s collection and then Debbie Royle took photographs of the buildings and views as they are now. Each set of photos is accompanied by information from documents and personal recollections from Louth residents.

The winner of the Flora Murray Award receives £200 and a framed certificate. Award for Excellence winners receive a framed certificate.

Pearl Wheatley (seated) receives the Award from Naomi Field (President) and Andrew Walker (Chairman)

Debbie Royle, Sue Fair and Ruth Gatenby with their award

Michele Sims with the award for the Lincoln TIC Heritage Trail

January 2025

A New Hall at Lincoln Castle
An example of non-invasive archaeology

Chris Casswell of Reclaim Heritage spoke to the SLHA meeting at Nettleham om Sunday 19 January.

Chris described the location of structures in the grounds of Lincoln Castle in front of the former prison using ground penetrating radar (GPR) and other non-intrusive techniques.

Excavation then confirmed the presence of features, including a medieval hall, detected at the depths and dimensions indicated by GPR. A triumph of technology that stimulated a range of questions and comments!

Photo: The Castle grounds looking west. The location of the 'New Hall' is in the foreground to the right of the path. 

JM

January 2025

Lincolnshire Watermills
An brief survey of their history and significance

Jan Sass MBE gave a brief talk about Lincolnshire watermills at the Sunday Special in Nettleham on 19 January.

Although only 55 watermills survive today in Lincolnshire, Domesday book recorded their presence in most settlements supplemented by windmills introduced from the late twelfth century.

Jon showed photographs of millers and their families in watermills including at Alvingham (shown right), Claythorpe, Nettleham and Tealby Thorpe. Claypole’s flour mill later became a cotton and flax mill.

Roller mills in our ports and larger cities producing flour on an industrial scale led to the demise of local watermills and we are grateful that our Industrial Archaeology Group has recorded several mills.

JM

January 2025